Blog Review 541

There’s something really a little odd about the current financial shenanigans, based as they are, at root, upon mortgages in the US. As is being noted, here and here , it’s not quite right to think of the US as having a national mortgage market: it’s a series of discrete regional ones.

Explaining why the Bear Sterns share price is above the offer from JP Morgan. It’s bondholders willing to take a loss on the equity in order to ensure that the bonds don’t default. Morgan might even sweeten their offer.

Excellent (if almost certainly apocryphal) advice on how to deal with hecklers.

An interesting report of the Arctic ice melting, the seals vanishing and so on. From 1922.

Arthur C. Clarke has died. A nine word obituary from one of his own stories.

It will be fascinating to see whether this here internet thing along with blogs manages to make this campaign work. Does the manner in which the Chancellor raised alcohol taxation mean that he should be barred from every pub in the country?

And finally, if this is his first published piece then I think we’ve got a lot to look forward to.